‘Heirs to be compensated through EOBI in form of pension’

Senior lawyer Faisal Siddiqi said on Monday that families of the Baldia factory fire victims would be provided long-term compensation and the money would be distributed through the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) as pension.

He was speaking at meeting with the families. The meeting was organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research.

He said that each victim family would receive Rs20,000 per month as pension. Previously, the immediate relief money received from KiK was distributed through a judicial commission formed by Sindh High Court.

Siddiqi said the purpose of the meeting was to share the updates of long-term compensation for the families affected by the horrific fire at the Ali Enterprises garment factory on September 11, 2012. 

He said the ILO had assisted in the process of long-term compensation and would form a monitoring committee, comprising retired judge and victims’ representative.

“We will make sure that this process will take place smoothly. We have achieved this after five years of the incident with collective efforts.”

He said it had been written in the agreement that the compensation amount would be distributed through pension only, so there is no other way of distribution and if the pact was not be signed soon, the process might be further delayed.

Karamat Ali, the executive director of PILER, said the fire occurred because of lack of compliance of health and safety laws and the consumers and buyers were equally responsible for the negligence.

“In Pakistan only one percent of labourers have formed unions, which means they don’t have the power to advocate for their rights. Ttherefore, after the Ali Enterprises fire, Piler and other supporting organisations had decided to file a petition in court.”

KiK, a German firm, was the major buyer of the products being manufactured at Ali Enterprises.

“The German and Pakistani media helped us to raise this issue both in Pakistan and Germany. Clean Clothe Campaign, a network of labour supporting organisations has facilitated our negotiations with KiK over immediate and long term compensation for the victims,” said Ali.

Following an agreement between Piler and KiK, immediate compensation of $1 million was distributed among the victims through the Sindh High Court. The long-term compensation was also added in the agreement but the amount and process of distribution was not decided.

In March last year, KiK agreed to initiate negotiations.

Representatives of the Clean Cloth Campaign, ILO representatives, official from German government and representative of PILER attended the meeting and KiK agreed to pay $5.1 million in terms of long-term compensation and this amount has been transferred to the ILO’s bank account.

Ghulfam Nabi Memon, the joint director of Sindh labour department, said the government had provided the best facilities possible to the victims. Despite hurdles, we are working actively for the compliance of health and safety laws at workplaces. 

A victim’s representative committee was formed in the meeting including Shahida Akmal and Khurram, They will be the focal persons for the victims to share the issues faced during distribution process.